Dispensing device for slender articles



Jan. 13, 1948. N. BURCH 2,434,257

DISPENSING DEVICE FOR SLENDER ARTICLES Filed Jan. 13, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 mhmzzw-ai N. BURCH DISPENSING DEVICE FOR SLENDER ARTICLES Filed Jan. ].5, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ihzazz'fizaivi.

Jan. 13, 1948. N, BUR H 2,434,257

DISPENSING DEVICE FOR SLENDER ARTICLES Filed Jan. 13, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Jan. 13, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DISPENSING DEVICE FOR SLENDER ARTICLES 17 Claims. 1

My invention relates to a dispensing device for slender articles, it being herein shown as particularly designed for dispensing toothpicks, but it will be obvious that cigarettes, pencils, artificial straws, and other analogous articles may be dispensed by the same means, though minor alterations may be required in some instances for better accommodation of particular articles to be dispensed or vended.

It is an object of my invention to provide simple and inexpensive dispensing means of the character described, which means shall be certain in action and which will dispense only a predetermined number of articles (usually only a single article) at an actuation of the operating means, if the articles are uniform in shape and size.

Another obj ect is to provide a dispensing mechanism which can be readily assembled, and which consists essentially of a fixed frame with demountable parts that can be taken apart without difficulty in case of need.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear upon consideration of the following specification and the annexed drawings, which are made a part of this application and in which similar reference characters indicate similar parts.

Another object is to provide a dispensing device in which all movable parts may readily be assembled or dismantled, together with the parts holding them in place, as for shipment or for repair.

Referring now to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective of one form of the invention,

Fig. 2, a vertical section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows,

Fig. 3, a horizontal section on line 33 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows,

Fig. 4, a perspective of part of Fig. 1, with parts broken away to show the internal structure,

Fig. 5, a detached perspective of a broken part of a plunger shown in Fig. 1,

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of a broken part of the device, to show certain inner structure,

Fig. '7, a vertical section of a modified form of the invention,

Fig. 7a, a side elevation of a part shown in Fig. '7, FFig. 8, a perspective of a plunger shown in Fig. 9, a perspective of another plunger shown in Fig. 7,

Fig. 10, a vertical section of another form of the invention,

Fig. 11, a horizontal section on line llll of Fig. 10, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 12, a vertical section on line l2l2 of Fig. 10, locking in the direction of the arrows,

Fig. 12a, a detail of a window shown in Figs. 10 to 12,

Fig. 13, a perspective of a plunger shown in Figs. 10 to 12,

Fig. 14, a bottom plan of the said plunger, and

Fig. 15, a perspective of another plunger shown in said figures.

In the drawings, reference character 20 indicates side members of a casing, said side members being connected by means including a pair of inclined chute portions 2|, 2| at opposite sides of a lower part of the device; by a floor member 2'2 having an inverted V-shape at its top to divide an inner compartment at its bottom, said compartment holding the articles to be dispensed; and by upper bars 23, 23, the side walls of all of these parts being rigidly but demountably secured together.

The inner compartment is divided only at the bottom, and is closed at opposite sides by panes of glass 24, 24, each located in front of an ejecting mean for feeding to one of the chutes provided by the members 2|, 2|, each of which is provided with an opening 25, for entrance of the fingers of a user, whereby he may readily grasp an object lying on a chute member 2| and held from moving off the said member by means of fingers 25, 25, at opposite sides of the opening 25. Preferably, but not necessarily, the side members 28, 21 may extend slightly above the inclined chute member at opposite sides of the chute, so as to prevent articles from moving endwise beyond a side of the chute.

The ejecting means comprises a pair of vertically movable plungers, each having an operating bar 21, 2'1, with a pair of upright bars 28, 28 depending therefrom and guided in slots provided at the corners of the device by grooving the front and .rear edges of the side wall members 2D, 28. At their lower ends the pairs of bars 28, 28 are respectively secured to relatively thin fiat crossbars 29, 29 that are beveled at the upper margin and oppositely beveled at the lower margin, as best shown in Fig. 2. These crossbars are connected to the upright bars 28 by narrow necks 29' formed by notching bars 29 to receive flanges 39, 38 on the side walls. Thus the uprights 28 are closely guided on all sides by the slots in the side walls, coacting with the panes 24, and the crossbars are limited in their upward movement by engagement of the lower ends of 3 flanges 30 with the necks on a crossbar 29 (Fig. 4). These plungers are normally held up to their upper limit as determined by the flanges 30 by coil springs 3|, 3| having their ends received respectively in holes at the lower faces of the bars 21 and the upper faces of fixed bars 23.

Below the plungers 29 and guided by reduced portions of flanges 3!] (Fig. 4) there are auxiliary plungers 32, 32 having parts projecting into the slots that guide the uprights 28, 28, said plungei's being normally held up by coil springs 33, 33 to a position determined by the depth of pockets at 34, 34 in the auxiliary plunger, which pockets re-. ceive the lower ends of the flanges 30, 30, as shown in Figs. 4 and 6. The upper faces of the said plungers are inclined preferably so as to lie in the same plane as the adjacent face of bottom member 22.

The panes 24 are held in place at their upper ends by engagement in slots at the under sides of fixed bars 23, 23. At the side edges of their front faces they are held by small blocks which, like other fixed parts, may be held by screws passing through the side walls 20, 20 and into the adjacent parts, or in any other desired or conventional manner. In order to hold the panes against movement downward I provide slots at their opposite side margins and mount pins 3'! in the side blocks 36 in position to engage in said slots when the blocks are located as illustrated.

The bottom face of plunger 29 is V-shaped, having one face at 38 that is parallel to the adjacent face of auxiliary plunger 32 and another face 39 inclined at about 90 from face 38 (Fig. 5).

A cover 40 for the article compartment is hinged at one side of the device as at 4|, and is held in closed position by means of a resilient hasp 42 engaging with a fixed pin 43.

The relation 'of the plungers in the device shown in the drawings is such that normally the upper plunger is spaced from the auxiliary one to 'an extent sufficient to permit a single article to lie on the sloping face of plunger 32, this article, e. g., a toothpick, lying against the glass window 24 and below the plunger 29. When now the main plunger 29 is forced down by pressing on the bar 21 and compressing the springs 3|, 3|, its oppositely beveled faces 38 and 33 will act, respectively, on the two articles shown in Fig. 2 as being in the space defined by parts 24, 29 and 32, first forcing the auxiliary plunger 32 downward and then forcing the outer article out underneath the window 24 when the parts have gone down far enough to leave suflicient open space below the same, while at the same time holding back the article that is under the faee 38 until the plungers are again moved up by their springs 3| and 33. The article that follows immediately behind the one to be discharged is pinched between the opposed faces of parts 23 and 32 until the plunger has reached its uppermost position, when it will be released andwill then pessen down theinclined face of part 32, into position to be discharged at the next actua tion of the plungers at that side of the device.

As best show 'in Figs. 1 and 3; the other stationary parts, e. g. 2|,'g2, 23, 23'and 36, are all e to h si Wells 9 2" b sci ewsr'w'hil 'ih panes 24, 24 and the plungers: are heldih place by other demo untable" parts, so that the entire device can be knocked: down quickly, or for shipment or repairs, and as quickly reassembled.

Aside from the fact that the form of the invention shown in Figs. 7 to 9' is a single-discharge form instead of having two discharge openings and duplicate means for dispensing articles through the same, this form also differs in other particulars now to be described.

The outer casing comprises a back 44, sides 45, a fixed upper crossbar 46, and a lid 41 hinged to the back at 48, with a spring hasp 49 at the front a in a o fitt ver a pin 5!! to hold the lid closed. The side members are suitably provided with recesses, as in Fig. 1, providing ledges to support a bottom member 5| that is inclined to form the floor of a chute having fingers 52 at the front to hold the articles discharged from the storage compartment under the lid 41, a slot 53 being provided between said fingers to permit the articles dispensed to be grasped and lifted out of the chute. A window 54 engages at its upper end in a recess in crossbar 46 and is held at the side edges of its front face by L-shaped blocks 55 (Fig. 7a) secured to the side members of the frame, and having their short legs extending under the pane 54 to retain it in the position shown.

A horizontally movable plunger having an operating bar 5! has reduced side extensions mounted to slide in slots in the side frame members 45, said plunger (Fig. 9) also having side arms 58, 58, connected by the operating bar and by a crossbar 59, the side arms having shoulders 60, 60. The operating bar has lugs 6|, 6|, that coact with the blocks 55 to limit inward movement of the plunger 51, and the plunger is moved outward by spring 62. The plunger is supported at its under side by a fixed cross-bar 63.

An auxiliary plunger 64 is mounted upon the main plunger for sliding movement with it and also independently thereof. The auxiliary plunger has an inclined front face at 55 that is adapted to serve as a continuation of an inclined face at 66 on the floor of the storage compartment of the device, when the plunger has been moved back as far as possible, though the inclination of the two faces need not be the same. The limit of its rearward movement is determined by means of the rearmost position of the main plunger, which is set by the lugs 6|, assisted by the engagement of side bars 58, 58 with the rear wall 44, if desired. A spring 61 impels the auxiliary plunger forward, to a limit determined by thin side wings 58, 68 on plunger 54 midway of its height and positioned to slide on the side bars 58, 58 of the main plunger in the slots of the frame, and limited by the shoulders 68 with reference to their outward sliding movement on the main plunger.

Downwardly extending lugs 69 at opposite ends of plunger 64 (Figs. '7 and 8) coact with the bar 63 to limit the outward movement of the plunger with regard to the fixed frame. The plunger 51 is relieved at its lower rear face at 10, and the plunger 64 is similarly relieved at the lower part of its front face, as shown at TL. I

In the operation of this form oi the invention the outlet of the storage eornpai t nent is normally closed at the bottom by fixed bar 63. Upon actuation of operating bar 51 this bar first moves back ep n l o plunger 4 th r by olding an article in the space provided by recesses 10, t ing l thers back. up. h clin at 65. After the relieved parts of the plungers have passed beyond the bar 63 an article loosely held in the recesses 10, U, will fall down to the floor of the chute 5| and roll down to the exit.

When the pressure on bar 51 is released the springs will force the parts back to the normal position of Fig. 7, the movement of plunger 64 being however arrested when its lugs 69 strike against the side of bar 63 while the plunger continues on to its position of rest, shown in Fi '7.

In this form of the invention the back 44, the sides 35 and the fioor 58 are permanently fixed together as by nails or glue, while the parts 45, 5E, 55 and 53 are secured to the sides by screws (not shown) and window 54 and the plunger are retained as above described.

Referring now to that form of the invention shown in Figs. to 15, the fixed frame comprises a back 12, side walls l3, l3, fixed to the back, and a, floor member 75 for a storage compartment all fixed permanently together, and parts 14 and 14, preferably held by screws to the side walls. A lid 16 is hinged at El and is provided with a resilient hasp 18 having a hole for engagement with a pin 79 to hold the lid down.

The storage compartment is provided at its front with a window 8t that is held in place by two strips 8i, 8| at its opposite sides, by insertion in a recess in bar i l (Fig. 10) and by means of pins 32 on the side walls engaging in notches 83 at opposite side edges of the pane of glass 80.

The means for ejecting articles from the compartment comprises a main plunger having a front crossbar 84 and an auxiliary plunger 35, the main plunger serving as an actuator for the auxiliary one for which purpose it projects out of the casing and slides on the bar I' l. It has side bars 85, 86 with shoulders at 81, 87, and a crossbar 89 that supports a lug 89 that is encircled by one end of a coil spring 9!, whose other end encircles a lug $2 on the frame for positioning the spring. The inward movement of the plunger 84 is limited by engagement of the ends of bars 36, 86 with the back 12 or the rear face of bar 84 with an upwardly projecting portion of bar 14, but the proportions of the parts may be changed so that the ends of bars 86, 86 strike the back of the casing before the bar 84 contacts bar it. The plunger 84 is normally held in the advanced position of Fig. 10 by reason of the action of spring 9|.

The auxiliary plunger 85 has wings 93, 93, that engage in slots in the side walls just above the bars 86, 86, and slide therein and also with reference to the main plunger 84. It has an inclined front face 94 that can match with the inclined face of floor member 15 when the plungers are in their rearmost osition. A lug 95 on the plunger coacts with a lug 85 on the back wall of the casing to support a spring 91 that normally holds the inner plunger with its wings 93 in engagement with shoulders 81? and which also serves to resist rearward movement of the main plunger. On the bottom of this plunger there are lugs 98, 98 that coact with crossbar 89 to limit relative movement in one direction between the plungers, the relative movement in the other sense being limited by engagement of wings 93 with shoulders 87. A chute [Gil is like those prevlously described. Here the parts 1d, 14', 8| and Hill are demountably secured to the side walls it by screws (not shown).

In the operation of the device, the plungers occupy positions such that the sloping front of the auxiliary one is just under the lower end of the pane 8t and closes the outlet passage, and the main plunger is at its forward limit of movement, lugs 93 being spaced from shoulders 81 to the distance permitted by engagement of lugs 98 with bar 89. Thus no article can enter the ejection slot between bar 84 and plunger 85. Now when the plungers are moved back against the action of their springs the bar 84 first moves closer to the plunger 85 until the shoulders Bl engage the wings 93, thus nearly closing the ejection slot, which is now closed at the bottom by the fixed bar 74. At this time articles in the compartment can move down between the plungers, and when the plungers are permitted to return they will separate as the auxiliary lunger engages the lower end of the glass and is arrested thereby, thus opening said slot wide so as to permit discharge of an article in the same, the slot being now positioned in front of the bar it and the pane of glass 89.

The parts of the device, with the exception of such parts as the springs and screws and the windows are preferably made of wood but it is intended that plastic materials or metal, etc., may be employed as convenience or taste may dictate.

Any of the forms of the invention shown will serve to dispense perfect articles of the type above discussed, and minor defects in the shape of the articles will not affect the operation of the dispensing devices. But where articles are decidedly misshapen or defective in form the modification of Figs. 10 to 15 will be found most dependable, and in fact will operate satisfactorily unless the articles are very gravely defective.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that numerous variations may be made in the devices herein disclosed, all without departing from the spirit of the invention; and therefore 'I do not limit myself to what is shown in the drawings and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the appended claims.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim is:

1. A dispensing mechanism comprising a casing having a storage compartment with an outlet passage at its lower end, main and auxiliary plungers movable across said passage to open and close the same, said plungers having between them a space forming a part of said passage, yieldable means to force the plungers in one direction, and lost motion connections between said plungers for permitting the main plunger to approach the auxiliary plunger and reduce said space upon actuation of the main plunger.

2. A device as in claim 1, wherein said yieldable means normally positions the auxiliary plunger so as to close said passage.

3. A dispensing device for slender articles, com-- prising a casing having a storage compartment, a window pane at the front of the compartment, an ejection passage at the bottom of the window pane, means at the sides of said pane for supporting it against downward movement, means for ejecting articles through said passage including a plunger yieldably supported for movement transversely of said passage, and an operating plunger supported for movement with the firstnamed plunger and also having relative movement with respect thereto for varying the space between them, said space forming part of said ejection passage.

4. A dispensing device for slender articles, comprising a casing having a storage compartment, an ejection passage at the lower end of the compartment, a slidable spring-pressed plunger normally preventing passage through said slot, and a relatively movable spring-pressed plunger movable toward the first-named plunger to cooperate therewith in closing the passage, but being rela- 7 tively movable with respect theretoto permit has. sage of articles, through said passage.

A dispensing device for slender artic1es, comprising a casing having a storage compartment, windows at Opposite sides of the same, an ejection passage below each window, a plunger spring pressed upwardly adjacent each window and normally closing the corresponding passage and a plunger movable downwardly in opposition to the first plunger for depressing it and so permitting an article to pass out through said passage.

6 A device as in claim 5, the compartment having a floor with oppositely inclined parts sloping toward the respective windows, and the firstnamed plunger having an upper face normally lying approximately in the same plane as the, adjacent floor portion.

7. A device as in claim 5, the second-named plunger having oppositely inclined faces at its lower; end, one of said faces tending to return articles to the compartment and the other tend ingto force an article out through said passage.

8. A dispensing device comprising a casing having a storage compartment, 3. window at the front of the compartment, ejection means slidable horizontally below said window and including plungers slidable in slots in the side walls of the casing, said plungers being normally spaced, apart to provide an outlet passage and a fixed frame member closing said; passage, said plungers being movable beyond said frame member to open said passage.

9. A device as inclaim 8 wherein at least one of the adjacent faces of the plungers is relieved at its lower part to provide a recess for loosely holding a slender article, the walls above said recess acting to grip followingarticles, so that one article is fed out and-others are held back.

10. A dispensing device comprising a casing having a storage compartment with an outlet passage, a spring-pressed plunger adjacent said passage, means coacting with the plunger to close the passage, and a plunger alined with the firstnamed plunger to move the same for opening said passage.

11. A dispensing device as in claim 10, said plungers having adjacent faces forming parts of said passage, at least one of said faces being relieved to provide a recess for loosely holding a predetermined number of articles to be dispensed, and the second plunger being movable to move the first-named plunger away from said coacting means while at the same time discharging the articles in said recess and closing the passage above the recess to prevent discharge of other articles.

12. A dispensing device comprising a casing having a storage compartment, av window at the front ofsaid compartment, the upper end of said window lying in a recess ina fixed frame member, an outlet passage below the window, blocks secured to the side walls of the casing and having arms extending underneath the window pane to hold the same in place, the pane being otherwise unsupported at its lower end and a horizontally slidable plunger below said pane, the inward movement, of the plunger being limited by said blocks.

13. A dispensing device comprising a casinghaving a storage compartment, a window pane at the front of said compartment, a pair of alined spring-pressed plungers normally spaced to. provide. an, outlet for the contents of the com: partment, one of said plungers being normally positioned to coact with the lower edge of the window to close said outlet, the other plunger movable with the first-named plunger to expose the space between them to the contents of the compartment and also having relative movement with regard thereto so as to open said slot more widely after return of the plungers to normal position to p rmit free discharge of an article held between said plungers.

14. A device as in claim 13, wherein a fixed bar closes the outlet slot between said plungers when they are at their innermost position.

15. A device as in claim 13, wherein a fixed cross-bar below the plungers coacts with the auxiliary plunger to limit its outward movement.

16. A dispensing device for slender articles, comprising a frame having side walls, a rear Wall and a floor, all permanently secured together; a hinged lid, ejecting plungers, a chute below said plungers, a front window, and crossbars all de-, mountalol-y supported by said side walls and coact-. ing therewith to, form a storage compartment having an outlet adjacent its lower end; resilient means acting to hold said plungers in position to close said outlet, and lost motion connections, between said plungers for opening said outlet to permit a predetermined number of articles to be dispensed at an actuation of said plungers.

17. A device as in claim 16, wherein the flooris also demountably supported by said side walls.

NATHAN BURCH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

